BETHEL — Mahoosuc Land Trust continues its summer series of Backyard Sundays that celebrate the endless possibilities of our backyards. Every Sunday at 1 p.m. (or noted when different), garden volunteers, staff, and local experts will showcase what you can do at home using space in your backyard.
June 29: Upcycle Fair – Rebecca Zicarelli, 10-3, drop-in, and Starting seeds for a second crop – Barb Murphy
July 6: What’s in bloom – Mike and Barb Murphy give a tour through the Habitat For All Garden to talk about what is blooming and what is coming in the July garden. They’ll look at how vegetable gardens help pollinators. Vegetable gardens can provide an amazing array of food sources for our pollinators. Join Barbara Murphy for a look at simple practices that give big results for insects.
July 13: Who are our pollinators? Master Naturalist Julie Reiff will introduce you to the many insects that do the hard work of pollinating this beautiful garden. So far, volunteers have documented more than 160 different species using the iNaturalist app. We’ll give a demo on using the app for those who are interested.
July 20: Herbal Teas — Garden volunteer April Frost demonstrates how to make several teas and infusions from plants in the HFA garden. Creating tasty treats from your landscape is so satisfying!
July 27: Foraging Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms – Greg Marley offers a day-long class to build the basic knowledge needed to identify common edible and poisonous mushrooms. We will explore identification features, ecology, and the seasonal occurrence of mushrooms. Registration required.
August 3: Indigo Harvest Festival – Rebecca Zicarelli teaches participants how to process indigo for future use as a dye and pigment and explore fresh applications. We will make a pigment extraction, dehydrated cellulose, and dried leaf, and talk about the uses of each.
August 10: Adding water to the garden – Water attracts an incredible diversity of life to your backyard. Join Barbara Murphy for a look at water features from milk jugs to the pond in the Habitat For All Garden.
Bring a lunch and spend the afternoon at Valentine Farm. In addition to the Backyard Sunday activities, there is a storybook walk, a self-guided birding trail, and a 1.2-mile accessible walking trail that meanders through forests and fields.
Habitat For All Garden is located at Mahoosuc Land Trust’s Valentine Farm Conservation Center at 162 North Road in Bethel. For more information, visit Mahoosuc.org/events